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"Horrible and unsafe city"

"Students who are serious about learning will not fit in"

"Oversubscribed uni so teaching is shoddy"

Serious, academic students will not fit in at Nottingham

I chose to leave my Law degree here last year. The main campus (University Park) is one of the most beautiful I have ever been to, and the range of societies and clubs on offer is phenomenal, but, in the end, there just weren''t enough things to keep me at an academically failing institution. Nottingham has fallen significantly in the league tables in recent years, and I can certainly see why.
Nottingham''s courses are simply oversubscribed. Keep in mind that the university has around 21k undergrads alone - by comparison, Oxford has 11k and Warwick has 12k and individual departments as well as the University as a whole have a very "detached" feel. A lot of students are paying for nothing but a set of handouts (which are often very poorly done - the Law ones were often sparsely written, done in shorthand and virtually impossible to understand because of this), the odd tutorial or lecture (I spent more time working at my part-time job than having contact time!) or piece of coursework, and a set of exams at the end of every semester, plus a degree certificate at the end of it. The whole university often felt like a giant business or money-making scheme, complete with shiny prospectuses to advertise it and plenty of PR attempts, rather than an academic institution that actually cared about providing a great education. Even in tutorials, professors gave off the impression that they were doing you a favour by taking time out of their extremely busy schedules, rather than actually doing something you had paid a sizeable amount of money for. My personal tutor was unavailable the vast majority of the time - I literally only got to see him for 5 minutes at the start and end of every semester. After emailing him regarding academic help a few times to get no reply, I gave up.
Nottingham''s social scene is also antiintellectual. As only a few courses out of the many on offer require high grades and indication of much passion for your subject in your Personal Statement, when you move into halls in first year, for instance, there''s a strong likelihood the people you are placed with will be more interested in partying and clubbing than actually doing some work. If you don''t fit in in terms of having really upper-middle-class parents who are willing to finance a good bit of partying and whatnot, being willing to act like a complete drunken maniac (I''m not going to go into detail, but hall representatives made us sing very explicit and rude songs involving paedophilia, rape and doing things to members of other halls in the bus rides to clubs) in Freshers'' Week, and being a bit snobby and closed off to anyone who isn''t like that (I had a huge group of friends from school, as I''m very sociable, but didn''t get along so well with hallmates in Nottingham) you are not going to find it easy to make lasting friends here.

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After completing 3 years at UEA I went to Nottingham University for my post grad year. I took for granted that everything I loved about UEA was just being at university - any university. How wrong I was!

Nottingham University is very large, and as a result it feels very impersonal. The schools of study are so huge you don't get that feeling of getting to know your tutors, and you feel like they value your tuition fees more than they value you personally. Research is a very high priority for Nottingham, and lecturers will focus on that more than they will you. Having said all that, the campus is gorgeous. You have everything you need right there, the bar, which also does food and hot drinks, a stationery shop, plenty of places to buy lunch inc. Boots the chemist. The library is great, and has a Starbucks when you need a break from studying. The buses run right through campus taking you cheaply and easily into the city.

Overall I would say it depends on the type of person you are, and the type of university experience you want. If you like the hustle and bustle of a big city and you're not too worried about it feeling impersonal then you'll probably love it. If, like me though, you prefer somewhere that offers all these things, but on a smaller scale, then I would choose a smaller university. One where you build hundreds of friendships because you're always bumping into the same people, and one where your tutors will get to know you personally and be able to help when you need it.

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I think Nottingham University sucks!!!Although it has beautiful campus the substance under the appearance is rotten. The university just try every method to get money from us poor overseas students and no matter what kind of way used: cheat, illegal way.Besides, Nottingham city sucks, too!! People there are very unfriendly and have high discrimination towards foreigners. They are cold and behave like machine,not human. The criminal rate of Nottingham is also the highest. Yes,there are fair ladies but most of them just prefer to give a scornful glance.People there are not only conservative and prejudice, also stupid and non-civilized.

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Personally, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else

I am currently half way through a four year degree at the University of Nottingham, and I've loved my time here so far.

For me, the University of Nottingham has everything; it is a beautiful, sprawling, green campus right on the edge of a bustling metropolitan centre. It has the nightlife, it has the history, it has the attractions. It has the international relations (having a campus in Malaysia and on in China too). It has top notch sports facilities. In my experience it has to notch facilities whatever you're looking at. It is also ideally situated, being only a relatively short journey away from most places in England. There are a good range of societies available through the student's union, and the student bar's are fairly good value for money too.

Most importantly of all though, it has a good reputation academically, and especially for research. I have found the quality of teaching to be consistently high, and from what I've heard from friends, the academic support available is far greater than other universities.

That said, it's far from perfect. I've had a few problems, but those have been mostly with the Timetabling office, and have been readily sorted out. Nottingham has the same problems with administration as any University, but I've always had these sorted very quickly. My biggest problem is their fondness for parting with you with your money, but I've found it doesn't bother me too much as I've avoided losing things like my student card.

Overall I've had a good experience with this University. It's not perfect, but then no university could ever be. I will say that it's a great place to study, and I hope to carry on my studies here after my undergraduate degree.

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Make your own mind up

Nottingham University is generally based on appearances, boasting one of Europe's greenest campuses and a range of archiecture from classical looking buildings on University Park to postmodern award winning buildings on Jubilee. This is generally what attracts potential students, along with its reputation as being one of the best universities in the UK.

However, as we all know, appearances can be deceptive.

I did my undergrad degree at Nottingham University, and whilst I can honestly say that a lot of my friends loved at and were keen for any excuse to say, there were a lot of things I had problems with. Some of these I assume will be similar for other universities, but this is just a guess, and these are problems I encountered.

One thing I will say is that if you're doing an Arts course, be prepared for an overwhelming amount of superficial people, many of whom will take 3 or 4 hours to get ready to go to the library, whereupon they do no work at all but just go there to be 'seen'. Many people are fake and/or snobbish, though there are plenty of nicer and more normal people too, these are the ones who will most stick in your mind unfortunately.

1. Teaching

Most of the staff, particularly in first year, gave the impression that they'd much rather be doing their research than teaching us. In first year the majority of seminars were given by unqualified postgrads. This I found quite shocking as you wouldn't even expect a teacher without training in a primary school, never mind a university. This is a problem across a lot of universities, mainly due I think to costs in teaching large numbers of people. I did have supposed seminars where the 'teacher' would hold up something like Paradise Lost and say 'So what did you think of this book?', and then proceeded to get visibly annoyed when met with the silence of people completely flabbergasted by such a broad question that hadn't been thought through. Occasionally I would get a good postgrad teacher, but this was rare.

This is really not worth paying over a grand a year for, especially where there are only a few hours a week teaching time for English students (about 10-15 in first year, going down to about 4 in third)

In second and third years a bigger proportion of the teaching was done by lecturers; however this varied hugely. Amongst the best, like Peter Stockwell, lectures were fully attended by the 200-300 people on my course. We'd spend time discussing them after and it made us love what we do. We had a purpose, we were crazily enjoying it. Other lecturers relied solely on muttered Powerpoint slides, often badly spelt and mistyped (appalling for any subject, but they made many English students want to cry). For the worst, only about 10 people would show up once the lecturer had established what they were like by reading off slides and then putting them up on the intranet for people to download in full anyway.

2. Money

At the end of the third year, I went to apply for a master's and to apply at other unis, I needed official proof of my results to date. After reading the terms on the Nottingham Uni website, I then had to fill out a confusing form where one of the mandatory questions was the type of 'letter' I wanted. I was confused but completed it anyway. I was then told to wait 3 days before I could collect my copies. I went to collect them, and they'd printed the wrong thing for me and then told me it was my fault and I had to pay if I wanted anything else printed. I explained that the form had confused me, and they looked it up on their computer and tried their best to prove it was my fault but they couldn't. The woman acted like she was doing me a big favour by printing off the stuff I needed and not charging me for it (after 5 printouts of official admin things you have to pay). All she did was print 5 sheets of A4 and stamp them. And that apparently took 3 days. The worst thing was that if I had been charged, the first page would have cost me £10, and the subsequent ones £5 each. For a two second printout on a plain piece of paper, and an ink pad stamp.

Then I was told that I'd have to provide a copy of my final degree certificate to confirm my place - that is a fixed fee of another £20. Their attempts to get you to stay on and do more/other courses mounted up and ended up costing quite a lot by the end.

Secondly, a considerable amount (we're talking hundreds of thousands if not millions) of the money the university makes is based on investments in the arms trade, which I find politically and morally unethical and I'm ashamed that by going there I unknowingly supported this. Apparently it's done because it's a safe investment with a big return.

Thirdly, the university has campuses in China and Malyasia. To be officially recognised as a university in China, there needs to be a certain number of books per student. So the university has decided to ship out a lot of English books from their UK libraries that are either banned or not applicable to the courses they do over there rather than pay for new books that would actually benefit the Chinese students and allow the English students to keep books they need and use, when there is already a shortage.

3. Societies and Karni

Karni is the charity organisation that plans tons of different ways to make money. The university loves it because it makes them look good. Even though they're perfectly willing to take credit for this, they are not prepared to accept responsibility of the students. There are various Karni 'reps' in charge of events and organisation, and they are required to sign for personal responsiblity for the students in case anything should happen. I imagine if anything did, this would cause massive problems and guilt issues, outside of courts and lawsuits etc.

Societies are given precedence over students to some degree. For example, I was told I was not allowed to book a room to rehearse a presentation in because I was not a committee member of a society. So I couldn't use the drama studio for presentation purposes even though I studied Drama; yet a computer scientist as a secretary of, say, the rambling society could organise hang gliding in there if he/she wanted. I found this really unfair, and this applies to all rooms that can be booked on campus.

4. Censorship

In my second year they put a warning on the intranet portal basically telling people that if they posted anything negative about the university on the Internet, they would be kicked out.

This kind of censorship was added to by two people recently being arrested for 'terrorism'. This involved one of the students asking a staff (not academic/lecturer) member to print out a copy of some terrorism-related stuff; but this is widely available in print/on the Internet, and was strongly linked to his thesis. It was blown out of all proportion and unsurprisingly the university tried to distance themselves from it until they were found innocent, refusing to use the word 'staff' even internally - instead, they referred to the incident as involving a student and an 'ex-student', refusing to even acknowledge it was anything to do with them...and passing the non-existent blame onto the students - just for a change.

5. Student cards

In the second year I was there the university decided to remove the NUS logos from our student cards, meaning we couldn't use them for the discounts we were entitled to. They also did this without consulting the Students' Union, which everyone was so furious about that they reinstated it the next year - but not before a whole new generation of students (and the thousands that hadn't kept their cards from the year before) had missed out on their student discount.

These cards are also used around campus for many things including the library, library room bookings, general ID and entering buildings and rooms. The university decided anyone who was careless enough to lose theirs had to pay £20 for a replacement, despite the fact that they cost £5 to make. After a big uproar about it, they finally agreed to reduce the price - I think it's at £10 - and they are still making money on it.

Conclusion

Overall, though I had some good experiences at Nottingham uni, and some of the lecturers are world leaders in what they do, there are a lot of underlying issues I have with how things are run that you don't see from looking at the pretty campus and the general reputation.

If you are interested in applying here (or to any UK university), I would recommend skipping the Open Days and instead walking into a random lecture or two - trust me, no one will know you don't belong there - and then you can see what it's really like before making a decision.

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One of the top uni's in the country for a reason!

I am just about to enter my final undergraduate year at Nottingham university. I had originally meant to go to Kings College London but due to illness and home sickness I took a gap year and decided to go to Nottingham instead. And there has not been one moment that I have regretted this decision.

Nottingham has recieved an enormous amount of bad press. Its high gun crime and burglary rates are well publicised. But you will find none of this at Nottingham university! That is what is so great about going to unversity with a campus. The main campus is situated outside the city centre just off the ring road, between Lenton and Beeston. This is a perfect location. There is plenty of convenient and easy public transport links into the city centre. Its near residential areas and so easy for students looking to live out in their 2nd and 3rd years and right next to the Queens Medical Centre and so perfect for nurses and doctors.

The campus itself is large, green and hilly. It has a picturesque lake near the north entrance and many large green areas to relax or play on a warms summer day. I dont think i've ever been on to campus without seeing a squirrel which is fantastic lol. There are also loads and loads of magpies around which is great if you're superstitious ;) There are absolutely beautiful buildings on site including the Trent and Portland building. The Portland building houses the Student Union. The library is called Hallward library and is just undergoing a renevation so will be all new and shiny soon. It has 4 floors in total with thousands of books and is accessible only with a swipe card. It has photocopying, computers, internet cafe, micro-film viewers and everything you would expect from a library. Dont ever be late handing in a short loan book though as the fines are hefty.

There is a brand new bar and nightclub on campus. They're not huge but they have a great atmosphere. Of course all prices are reasonable as its for students. There are many cafes spread out around the place and most halls of residences have their own bar. The fitness centre and sports centre are open to everyone if you pay the joining fees although they aernt cheap. However I absolutely love the fitness centre and dont mind paying for it. Its got everyhting you want from a gym, you can also hire headsets so you can listen to music or the t.v.s if you havent got your own music. People of all ages and sizes can be found in the gym which proves there is a comfortable and friendly atmosphere.

I cant tell you much about the halls of residences on campus as I was never in one of them. There are quite a few scattered around all of them catered. You are given a dining card so that you dont have to return to your halls during the day for lunch. There are set meal times but I'm told they are quite open and happy to accomodate difficult eating arrangements or needs. I was in an off campus accomodation called Broadgate Park which is literally 2 minute walk on the West of the campus. Its located in Beeston, 5 minutes from a massive Sainsburys. I was in a flat with 5 others with a shared kitchen but ensuite facilities. You really do get what you pay for on Broadgate Park. I loved my flat but I paid the higher prices. If you dont then the quality drops a lot. There are other off campus accomodation at St. Peters court and Raleigh Park which are also self-catered. These are further from the university located nearer to Lenton and could take up to 20 mins to walk to the unviersity from here.

There is a doctors and dentists on site. All students are expected to register with the health service. Which is convenient especially when NHS dentists are so hard to come by. There is a boots pharmacy right next to the doctors and a boots is also located in the Portland building. The university counseling service can be found in the Trent building and they offer a number of courses to help with any problems you may have as well as one to one sessions.

There is a careers service also located in the Portland building with a good careers library and plenty of information to try and guide you. The Portland building also has an insurance agency, a travel agency, a Blackwells bookshop, hairdressers, HSBC and a Nat West.

There is a great student support system for anyone with disabilities or problems. They will make arrangements for note takers, library browsers, transport and DSA or anything else they can think of to help you. This is located in the Portland building too.

There is a wide range of courses that are available for you to take. From Ancient History to Medicine to Engineering. Nottingham is one of the top universities in the country. The student population is extremely diverse, all races and ages study there. There is a course for everyone. There are also hundreds of different societies to join, all of which can be find promoting themselves at the annual freshers fayre when you arrive. This includes an active theatre company who perform at the unviersities lakeside theatre.

Nottingham City also greatly caters for the student population there are great deals around in town for money off and the bars and clubs have special nights for just university students.

I have greatly enjoyed my first two years here and am looking forward to embarking on my third year. I think Nottingham is a great campus university with fantastic facilities and a beautiful setting. I would definately recommend any perspective student to go and look around the campus and think about studying at Nottingham University.

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A great place to go, you will have the best time of your life!

* The Campus:Having visited a number of campuses, I would say Nottingham definitely is the most beautiful. It is definitely the greenest, and it has a stunning lake in the centre (complete with swans, ducks and boats) and the Millenium Gardens are a beautiful place to walk around. As well as buildings for lectures, there are bars, eateries, Blackwell's bookshop, Boots, a Student Union shop and even a hairdressers. The Lakeside Arts Centre is the perfect place to take the parents for a bite to eat and to see a showcase of local artistic talent, and there is a fantastic sports centre complete with swimming pool and several tennis courts (though be warned the joining fees are extortionate!).

* The Courses:Obviously I only took the one course (Classics), but I cannot rate the teaching high enough. The lecturers are friendly and extremely helpful, and genuinely interested in your opinions (which makes a nice change from school!). Nottingham offers a wide range of courses, although it is particularly science based (and consequently facilities tend to favour these subjects). Unfortunately a lot of the courses get over-subscribed, on the day you sign up for modules I would recommend getting up early to avoid disappointment!

* The Societies:Nottingham Uni has a huge range of clubs and societies to join to keep any student occupied. There are the usual sports clubs, political, religious and course-related societies, and the more unusual clubs, such as Hide N' Soc (a club solely devoted to playing games like Tig and Manhunt that you used to love as a kid) or Cocksoc (the unfortunately named Cocktail making club).

* The Nightlife:Nottingham boasts more bars per square mile than anywhere else in the UK, which means a great range of bars and clubs to suit all tastes. For the more up-market there is Coco Lounge and Tantra, for the alternative crowd there is the indie hotspot the Bodega and the Cookie Club, and for those looking for a cheap and cheerful night out there is Ocean and Oceana. If you're too lazy to leave campus, the Uni has a range of entertainment available. There is the New Theatre (the Uks only entirely student run theatre), Mooch (the staple bar) and Campus 14 (the famed bar crawl around all 14 bars on campus).

* Safety:Nottingham doesn't have the best reputation concerning crime - in my third year I was two blocks down from the most robbed street in the UK (Kimbolton Ave) and the cash machine most likely to get mugged outside of (next to the Savoy cinema). But I must say, in my three years not one incident happened to me - of course you hear about things happening, but providing you always lock doors and windows, and make sure you don't walk around late at night on your own, Nottingham isn't that dangerous!

* The City:The city centre is a fantastic place for shopping, eating out and generally having fun. There are a number of galleries and museums dotted around, Nottingham Castle (for Robin Hood enthusiasts), parks such as Wollaston Hall and the oldest pub in Britain!

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Absolutely loved it.

I graduated from the University of Nottingham this summer (July 2008) with a 2:1 in Law, and I can say without a doubt it was the best three years of my life. Everyone hears the cliches about University life being the best you'll ever have, and I took it with a pinch of salt, but Nottingham has certainly changed my mind on that one.

I don't know how much can actually be attributed to the University itself, but my confidence has grown beyond belief, I've learnt to be independent and I've gained a qualification from a University that's top 10 in my subject.

Above and beyond this, however, are the friendships I've made. The people I've met, lived with, spent hour upon hour with, laughed and cried with are honestly people I can say I'll be friends with for the rest of my life. And I do think that's got a lot to do with the University's selection process. I've never met such a wide variety of people - different backgrounds, different cultures, different interests and upbringings, but there's something about being in the same situation and going through the same things that just creates a bond between you.

The University itself is absolutely stunning - it's set in acres of gorgeous, gorgeous landscaped surroundings and this was honestly what set Nottingham apart from all my other choices during the visit days - it was such a beautiful place, and I could really imagine myself living there. Yes, the city does have a reputation as being the gun capital of the UK, but you really don't see a lot of that when you're on campus, and as long as you're careful and sensible around town, particularly at night, then I really do think the reputation is a little bit exaggerated.

Aside from this, the teaching is top class, the staff really seem to care (which I found out when I was having doubts about my course) and the facilities are moe than you could ever need. There are somewhere around 12-14 catered halls on campus, and every one of them definitely has its advantages. They'll make you feel incredibly welcome, with lots of freshers week events to allow you to make friends. I was in Lenton and Wortley Hall during my first year, and they'd actually arranged the rooms so that we were grouped together by interest (such as those who played a musical instrument) - it really helps when you have a starting factor in common! There aer also a number of self-catered halls off campus for first years, but that does more than double your commute to lectures, and a lot of people I knew said their halls didn't quite have the community feel that the on-campus catered halls had. They did, however, have the freedom to cook the food they liked when they liked, rather than queuing up for sometimes questionable hall food!

In conclusion I'd have to say that if anyone's even remotely hesitant when considering Nottingham as a University, I really would urge you not to be, as you'll have the time of your life.

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A beautiful university with excellent academic and social opportunities

The University of Nottingham is renowned for its stunning campus which is a major factor as to why this university is so popular. Not only is the campus beautiful with a wealth of flora and fauna including its own woodland, but it also has a tranquil stream and lake which is home to a good deal of wildlife.

On the campus there are 11 halls of residence each of which has its own community and common rooms. After living in a hall of residence you get a sense of belonging. I lived in Hugh Stewart Hall for my first year and loved it. During my time there was a popular bar, nestled in with the willow trees, and was the hub of activity, but this has now, I believe, been changed into a café.

A short walk from the Halls are the academic buildings. The architecture of the buildings adds to the charm of the campus. There are a variety of buildings some from the 60s, the atrium which holds the bookshop, restaurants and student shop has newly been built, but the gem of Nottingham's buildings is without a doubt the Trent Building.

Aside from learning in a beautiful location, the University of Nottingham benefits from it social and sporting activities, there is always something going on to get your teeth into. Nottingham is considered one of the UK's finest universities and is regularly in the top ten universities. I think a major reason for this is the university's encouragement to try different forms of learning. There are many schemes for students to study abroad, and I spent my third year in America which was the climax of my studies. They have a campus in Malaysia and are linked to universities all over the globe. The encouragement to travel and study is, I think, part of the understanding that you don't just learn in a library but you learn through life experiences too.

The university is situated 30 minutes away from Lenton which is where most students live out in their second and third years. Lenton is an area of regular housing but is unlike any normal city living as this area houses predominantly students and so has a great community spirit.

The university has regular transport into Nottingham which is an up and coming city. The history and shopping are well combined to appeal to all. Bars and restaurants are aplenty and allow a welcome break from study.The University does have a student union bar on campus, but this is very small compared to other unis. This is partly due to each Hall having its own bar, but there may be plans to increase the size of the union. I think the union really needs to be made bigger as it would encourage more performances and more socialising on campus. Each year the summer party is held on the downs - a grassy field which is surrounded by the Halls. The summer party is a great Nottingham tradition as it celebrates the end of exams and has a fantastic festival feeling.

The University of Nottingham continues to be one of the most popular unis as there are often 10 applicants per place - depending on the subject of course.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Nottingham and think that this stunning campus university encourages the right blend of academia and socialising.

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Great place to live and work. Visit an open day to check it out for yourself!

Personally I think that Nottingham University is great. Here is why:

Campus: The campus is gorgeous! It spans abour 300 acres, has large areas of open green space (where they hold a music festical every summer after exams), botanical gardens and a large park complete with boating lake. Its a great place to live in your first year and a great place to study for the entire length of your course. There is none of the dreariness found in city campuses and its great having everything in one place. If you have lectures in one of the other campuses then there are free buses put on so there is no problem getting there. The campus is only a ten minute bus ride from town, so you are still close enough to everything to have a good time!

Student Housing: There is an abundance of student housing in Nottingham. Rent ranges from £50 to £80 a week depending on where you live and how big your house is.

There are 3 main areas that students usually choose to live in. The first is Lenton. About halfway between uni and the city centre (about 20 mins walk) its the perfect place to live. The place is full of students so there are lots of bars, talkeaways, gyms, and there is even a small cinema! Its quite lively, but if you are after a 'work hard party hard' lifestyle then this is the place to go. Its fairly expensive to live here (about £70 per week is average) but its prime location.

The next place in Dunkirk. This is right next to uni, so if you have issues getting out of bed in the morning this is the place for you! The average rent is around £55-60 per week so its cheaper than lenton, but there isn't really much to do. There are no supermarkets, bars etc. so you will spend a lot more money on t axis and buses into town.

The last place in Beeston. This is where to live if you want a quiet life. Its a small suburb on nottingham with its own little town cente. Its got more charity shops per person than any other part of the country! There are loads of nice pubs and plenty of shops to do your shopping. Its on the whole a lot more chilled out than lenton.

Crime: this may put some people off coming to uni. Stats say there is the highest level of burglary here. You can't really argue with that. I hd my room broken into while I was in halls, but as your rent in the first year covers insurance, I got a new computer straight away and the campus security fixed my window and all was fine. I've not had any trouble since moving into private accomodation and I'm in my fourth year now!

The Students Union: This is mainly all situtated in the Portland building on campus. There are two main student bars here, Mooch and The Venue. The Venue is where club nights, live music and stand up comedy all take place. Its where the Ark used to be for all those who knew Nottingham well a few years ago! Mooch is a chilled out bar with comfy sofas, pool tables and cheap tasty food. Also situated in the portland building is an Endsleigh Insurance Shop, Student Radio, Print Shop, Hairdressers, Chapel, Record Library, and most of the societies have a base here.

The Sports Centre: The sports centre is great while you are living on campus as its so close and the facilities are great. The only downside is that it can be quite expensive. Once you have moved away from campus, its quite easy to find local sports centre that cost a lot less money to use.

I can't really think of anything else to talk about now! I really like it here. Its got a really nice atmosphere, the study facilities are great for my chemical engineering (can't really comment on other courses), and the town inself is great. If you get the chance to attend an open day I would really recommend it, that way you can make up our own mind. :)

And as Hillcrestan has commented, Nottingham has a great music scene. Rock City is one of the best 'non arena' venues I've been to and there are a whole host of smaller venues that cater for small and local bands. Check out Captain Dangerous (an up and coming local band) on www.myspace.com/captaindangerous. :) Great Stuff

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An amazing university.

After one year studying psychology at Nottingham I must say that the university exceeded my expectations. After leading a boring life in high school, this university certainly sparked up my life wonderfully.

First of all, the campus is full of greenery, and is beautiful for walks. If you stroll around the lake, you will forget that you are in a university and will be absorbed by its beauty. If one desires more nature, Wollaton Park is right next door. Lots of deer can be found here, and this park also has its own lake, as well as Wollaton Hall. The park even holds its own mini museum.

The student's union is excellent, and although the Ark (student union bar + club on weekends) plays very cheesy music on weekends...we all love cheese anyway don't we? The prices are fairly reasonable.

The location is excellent  the campus is far enough from the hustle and bustle of the city, but close enough to do shopping and go clubbing (10 mins by bus). I was blown away by the city centre as well  a mini-London. A lovely town, Beeston, is also in close range to the campus, and it provides for student's needs. I was especially pleased to find shops selling international food, as I am used to eating Asian food.

Weekone was most amazing, and I was impressed by how much the student union put effort into organizing the myriad of parties and events. I mean, fire spurted out from the stage during the orientation!

Now to the most important bit  education. I am currently studying for a psychology degree. I found the work challenging but absorbing. It was great to be surrounded by very intelligent people: it really pushes you to try hard and think. If you don't like big classes be warned: classes could get very large (up to 300+ people). However I was pleased by the tutorial system in which classes were eight students to one professor.

One thing that I noticed was that Nottingham was truely a 'work hard, play hard' uni. People there really DO party like crazy! If you are not a party person you may find this quite uncomfortable. I personally party in moderation, and found that when living in halls the noisy, drunk neighbours could get *very* annoying when I was trying to study.

A final point  when people decide whether or not to choose Nottingham they find the crime rate an issue. I personally had no problems, but I did hear of occasional muggings and a friend of mine did encounter a sicko. I think there's no problem really, if you stay sensible and always have a friend by your side at night. Nottingham is just like any old big city.

Although I have only spent one year in Nottingham, I can say it was one of the best decisions of my life, and recommend anyone to apply!

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Some may feel that I am not really qualified to comment on university life in Nottingham as I do not actually go to university there. However, I have lived in Nottingham for most of my life, my mother works as a lecturer at Nottingham university and I have many friends at the university (and also Nottingham Trent).

Firstly, I think the best and most important thing about Nottingham is the campus. It is one of the few universities to have such a nice enclosed campus and beats most of the others (e.g. Warwick) hands down in terms of scenery and ease of access. The campus has everything from a boating lake to a top (newish) sports centre. Although you will only find freshers living there, most of the student housing is along Derby Road which is just outside the campus. This ensures that the year groups mix well and you will always be bumping into people you know.

Everyone that I have talked to about Nottingham goes on about the infamous 3-1 female-male ratio. Although i can confirm that this is sadly for the guys NOT true, the benefits of Trent university in the city centre more than makes up for any lack of talent, with their many media/art etc students.

The nightlife in Nottingham is not like that of most other student dominated cities. The atmosphere is generally more chilled out and trendy rather than boistrous and rowdy. Areas of note include Hockley and the Lace Market which focus on trendy bars (e.g. Browns) and intimate clubs (e.g. Market Bar, Lizard Lounge) rather than the superclubs of Leeds and Manchester for example. There are nights out to cater for everyone from the newly opened Mode (RnB) or Works (cheese/other) to Market Bar (funky house).

Finally, the accomodation for students is also relatively cheap (around £70), although it is provided on campus for the first year. As mentioned earlier, most of the houses are close to campus, and on the road to the city centre. The quality of the accomodation varies but as long as you start looking early (around the turn of the year), it should be fine.

P.S. Nottingham isn't too bad academically either!

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OK, since I've finished my first year at Nottingham now, so I feel like I can write something about it that might be useful for people thiking of going to this University. I first went to Nottingham on an open day as most people do. The first thing you notice if you've been to other universities is how big and green it is. Of the top of my head the figure 330 acres springs to mind, so, if that sounds about right, then thats how big it is. I could be hopeless wrong and thinking of something else, but I'm quite sure it?s that. The university was built on land donated by the Boots family (as in the high street shop). I presume there was nothing much there before as where there hasn't been any buildings built, the campus is mostly grass. There's also a reasonably large lake and also other nice areas such as the millennium gardens (that?ll mean nothing to most people but I?ll give some links at the end). As I live near London, it was quite different to seeing universities near me! Of course the large nature of the campus itself can mean that you end up walking for up to 20 minutes to lectures, though this depends which halls you are in and what subject you do. I was in Cavendish Hall, one of three that is furthest away from the main teaching buildings which meant a walk of about 10-15 minutes for attending most lectures which was normally quite pleasant and there is a bus service around campus if you're lazy or its raining. Apart from the bus, some people do bring cars, but not that many really. Students living in hall are discouraged from taking there cars by the fact that there isn't a lot of parking space and you run a realistic risk of getting fined or clamped if you don't have permission to park where you have parked. I don't drive myself so I may be slightly biased on this issue, but I think this is a g ood thing really, as public transport into and around Nottingham is pretty good and taxi services aren't that expensive especially as most places you go you will normally be sharing a cab with 3 or 4 other people. Getting a taxi into town will cost about 6 or 7 pounds most of the time and split between five that?s only a little more than getting the bus. Talking of going into town, the chances are that you?ll be doing this a lot in the first year. Nottingham has a range of good clubs and bars, many of which you will probably have been to within the first week or two. Week One, fresher?s week, is a time where you should be going out pretty much every night and meeting a lot of people on the way. Make sure you do meet most people in your hall at this point. Oh and yes, you will forget everyone?s name and everyone will forget yours, but it?s never a problem. I was quite lucky in that I made friends with most of my friends within the first week and we formed a group early on. However this isn?t always the case and its quite normal for people to meet not the people they end up moving in with the next year right at the start. That?s the point I?m at but there?s no point in worrying about that yet if you?re not there! Halls are by far where you will spend most of your time and its very likely that most of your friends you make will be from there rather than from your course, though again, I must qualify this by saying I?m doing economics which is quite a popular course and on courses with less people on them you will see the same people more often in lectures and tutorials and get to know them more. I found on my course though that nearly all the people I know by name on my course are those who are (were :( sniff sniff? ) in my hall. One, may the only disappointing thing in my first year is that its completely true that the Student Union does very little indee d. There are a lot of societies to join but I?m sure a lot do much. There are societies for each nearly every subject I think (there was no sociology society last year but a friend of mine is starting one next year), which can be good in order to get to know people on your course, but I found myself interested in few others and friends of mine that joined societies to try something new, for example the archery society or badminton society, found that events are not that often and that just because you are a member does not mean things will be free, sometimes just cheaper than for non-members. I found myself going to few union related activities and you could very easily go to none. The problem I think is that it is easiest to sign up for societies in the first week and few people decide to go and try something new by themselves. This means that unless you?ve already met friends who also want to try the same thing, you will either have to pluck up the courage to try something new all alone, or miss out. Probably the group I?ve participated most in which many people do not because they don?t know much about it is Karni, which is a charity group run by students at the University. In fact I believe it?s the biggest student charity organisation in the world, though that could be propaganda I?ve been fed. I?m sure it?s at least the biggest in the country though. Now you?ve probably already lost interest since I mentioned the word charity. Most people do. I must confess that when I first heard what they had to say I didn?t really believe the line, ?I know it sounds cr*p but its really good, honest?, but its true. For the first few months, they take groups of students from uni to different cities around the UK (Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds and Edinburgh to name a few) and then you collect money for a certain charity while you?re there. And then get a bus home. Or, that?s what its meant to be. This is hard to do while trying not to tarnish the name of a charity group? Actually, most people collect for 2 or 3 hours properly throughout the day and get to have lunch out and spend an hour or two around a new city, going shopping, meeting friends, or staying in a pub and watching the footy (its always on saturdays). The ride back to uni then consists of erm, to put it politely, relaxing with a drink or two of the famous Karni cocktail and ?banter? between different halls sharing a bus, ending with a night out at the union bar. Now, although clearly the fun can be said to start when the work ends, some of the most memorable bits are spent collecting (often dressed up) and meeting people in the street. Meeting war veterans thanking you for collecting for the poppy appeal and people who have benefited from the work of a cancer charity you are collecting for are touching experiences and I have often found myself lost for words. I also remember a security guard at Gap in Newcastle who I thought I had been annoying by standing just outside the shop and pestering every customer that came in for several hours, so when I went inside for a second to warm up my numb hands I was not expecting him to congratulate me on the great job I was doing rather than throwing me out. Errm, I can?t think of anything else to say about the university or Nottingham, so I guess that?s it. If anyone is thinking of going and has any questions, feel free to comment or ask me on tooyoo. I don?t have much else to do till I go on holiday! Also, have a look at the University website (www.nottingham.ac.uk) and the BBC website is good too, to find out about Nottingham in general, student life and see some 360-views of the university without actually being there (www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham). Dan < br>

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While the University of Nottingham is highly regarded, it manages to avoid the stigma and social stunting associated with the Oxford Cambridge experience. I am a third year student completing my final year of a BSC in Computer Science. I spent my first year on the main campus, in Rutland Hall. The second year I spent in a rented house in Radford. I took the third year off, and took up a placement with IBM. This year I have returned to complete my degree, and am again living in rented accomodation, but this time Computer Science and Business has moved to a new Campus, 1/2 a mile from the main campus, The Jubilee Campus. Ok, so lets start with my course. Having always intended to take a Computer Science course, I originally choose the course here for a number of reasons, which I will come to later. The main academic reason is that it allows a great deal of flexibility. For example, within this final year, the only compuldsary work is to do a dissertation, though the subject on which it is based is fully at your own discretion. I then had the oportunity to the choose all of the modules I am taking. While not easy, the course does allow the hard working to get good marks. Unlike some courses, an intelligent hard worker will definately be able to attain a first. In my first year I opted to stay in halls. This made life easier with meals included, and made it much easier to make friends, which everyone does with great ease. Within a month everyone is settled in with friends who share interests and get on well. The work load is not too demanding this year, and the social calendar is superb. Wednesday nights is spent clubbing it away at ISIS, on a purely Nottingham University student night. This makes for an excellent night of varied music without the unwanted attentions fo drunken "townies" looking for mischief. Sports are a big part of the uni life for those who choose to partake. Wednesday afternoons are always free from lectu res, and all sports are arranged for this time. One of the main non-academoic reasons for choosing this university is the campus. THe main campus is mostly grass and trees, and includes a large lake, and waterfall, and provides a most romantic walk at night as one of the more attractive buildings is lit up across the lake at night. There are also a number of football pitches and a double astrioturff arrea for hockey and football. There is also 2 large sports halls and a swimming pool. There are many many bars on campus, infact a first year tradition is to attempt the "Campus 14", that is a drink in each one of the bars. Few will survive! ONe of the few weaknesses of this fine University is the lack of a good Union. YOu will be unlikely to every experience anything Union related in your entire stay. Having made a great set of friends in my first year, we set out to livge in a house in the second year. We choose to live in Radford, which has its pros and cons. The main student area is :Lenton, a minutes walk from Radford. Radford is far cheaper rent, and we actually had a nicer house (on the inside) than most. However, the insurance bracket for Radford is the same as for Moss Side!!! You have been warned. A tip for you. IF you want to be with the other students in Lenton, choose a house with an alarm. While many student houses get broken into, very very few with alarms suffer this fate. This year was perhaps my most favourite year. Town is only a 15 minute walk away, were Rileys provides snooker entertainment all night long. The Savot cinema is a matter of metres from the centre of Lenton, and even the bigger Showcase cinema, and ISIS are only 20 minutes walk. The work load is slightly larger this year, and it starts to count, but there is still pleanty of time for fun. Now my one real fault with this University is that they do not encourage students to take a year out. It is certainly ont part of the courses, and you must do all the work to get a place yoruself. And if like me you do choose to take a year out, you will likely find that all your friends stay on and finish their degree, leaving you to return to make a new set of friends for your final year. But despite this, I do definately recommend it. While my new friends are all scrambling for jobs, I already have a definate job, returning to IBM where I took my year out. My third year is again going well. The only downside is that having taken a year in industry I feel a little mature for the Uni life, but I think all third years feel that way, and for most the endless partying is replaced by a slightly frequent partying, and mroe casual drinking and socialising. this year is again enjoyable, but I must admit, I cant wait to stop revising and working fro deadlines, and join the world of work. This year, as meantioned earlier, my degree is located on a new campus. This is very modern, but extremely pleasant. There is a lake and some interesting buildings. There are three halls, and the site is completely self sufficient. So, overall Nottingham is a fantastic University. I would recommend it to anyone. Geta place in halls in the first year, and prepare for the rollercoaster ride that you will remember for the rest of your life.

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The University of Nottingham campus really is the best I've seen. I spent my first year there before transferring to Leeds to complete my degree (for other reasons). The differenct between Leeds and Nottingham really made me realise how nice Nottingham is. The Nottingham campus is green...that's the only way to describe it! There are loads of trees, paths and a lake aswell. All 14 halls of residence are on campus and so are the 14 bars. One of the first things everbody does in their first year is the Campus 14 which means going to all 14 bars in one evening. Nearby is Beeston (only 5 minutes walk) where there are a further 14 bars. Everybody seems to do the Beeston 14 in Freshers week (probably to try to kill off the weaker freshers!!) The atmosphere on campus is great. Everbody knows how to work hard and play hard! It's easy to work and not feel pressured to go out but at the same time if you do want to have a night out there'e plenty to do and plenty of people to do it with! Nottingam City Centre is only 10 minutes drive (or taxi ride) away. There are plenty of shops to keep you occupied on a Saturday afternoon and also plenty of clubs and bars for the night time. Nottingham is a great night out any day of the week! I'm now at Leeds which is in the middle of Leeds City Centre and there is no tree in sight! It is all concrete and steps. Never mind! It's still a good night out aswell :)